MV Home Inspection

He has recently retired, but just spent 20 minutes with me on the phone answering questions. Check out his website as he has included some helpful links there for folks.

Just a pleasure from beginning to end. Mike was very personable from the beginning. He made me feel comfortable asking questions, while making sure I didn’t get in his way with the inspection. His thorough inspection made me feel very comfortable with possible decisions moving forward. Everything from the outside to each individual room and even the rooftop deck. There was not an inch that he didn’t cover.
I highly recommend Mike to everyone!

Yet another example of how Unilocal!always comes through.
I simply typed «home inspector» in the search section then called up five highly rated businesses. I asked each one for pricing and general frequently asked questions and Mike from MV Home Inspection was my pick. He seemed easy to work with and just by briefly discussing things, he knew what he was talking about. Even though I knew nothing about home inspections, I went with my gut.
Mike showed up an hour early to our prospective home and inspected around the exterior and then did a very thorough job all throughout. He educated us on basic maintenance and tips for future upkeeps. He even managed to draft his inspection notes on the same night, emailed and delivered.
Mike earned my business for life and I would recommend his expertise to anyone that needs to hire a home inspector. I favor someone who knows their trade and works for themselves way over some noob who’s been sent out by a big company. You most likely receive better service due to experience and know-​hows. They tend to take more pride in their work than the other run-​of-​the-​mill personas.

Mike, by far exceeded my expectation.
I’m buying a condo and decided to ask him for inspection because of his rating on Unilocal.
For a condo, inspectors are generally not required to make an assessment of common area. Mike came in an hour before our inspection of the unit and thoroughly inspected the foundation, roof, garage, and etc and gave me detail descriptions of the items that he discovered.
When it came time for the unit inspection, he was also thorough and gave me details of all of his findings and explained to me how to fix easy problems on my own.
The real estate agent that came with me even was impressed how thoroughly he inspected the unit.

I echo all the positive reviews below.
Mike took on the unenviable task of providing a thorough review for an old house suffering from decades of neglect. He arrived at the site early to assess the perimeter and spent around four hours poking, prodding, and investigating all aspects of the house/​lot before preparing his detailed 20+ page report. His inspection unveiled a laundry list of significant issues that ultimately steered us away from purchasing the house. Not the outcome we had hoped for, but precisely the point of home inspections. $ 500 well spent, and an entirely reasonable fee when evaluated on a per hour basis.
Highly recommended.

I chose MV Home Inspections because of its great Unilocal reviews. I’m glad to also rate it 5 stars because of the quality of work that was produced and the peace of mind Mike delivered. I’m in the military and I wasn’t able to be present for the inspection. That’s another reason I picked Mike, I needed to find someone who had the same high level of attention to detail as myself. He works for you, not your realtor. His methodical approach to conducting an inspection reflects his professionalism; he conducts no more than 1 house inspection per day. This code of conduct ensures he doesn’t rush to finish the job to stay within time constrictions. He executes to standard, not to time. Mike allocates about 1.5 hours examining the surrounding grounds of the home, the exterior, roof, gutters, etc. He looks out for signs of possible wood destroying organisms, conditions conducive to their existence, how the grade of the property should drain away from your property, EVERYTHING you want an inspector to catch. The rest of the time he uses to go over every major component within the interior of the house, low-​crawling into the crawl space of the home to take a more in depth look at what your property has to tell you.
An example report of what he produces is available on his website for review. It is divided into sections that make it easy to process the information presented: exterior, interior, garage, plumbing, heating, electrical, etc.
Every deficiency noted has a recommendation of the course of action to rectify the short coming. Major concerns are clearly pointed out within the report, immediately identifying potential deal breakers in bright BOLD RED.
The square footage of the house will dictate the time associated to conduct the inspection. My house was approximately 1300 sq ft, and he allocated 4 hours to complete it. It actually took him 5.5 hours because he incorporated items that I already noted as points of concerns into his inspection and recommendations for courses of actions.
Based on the phone interview before hiring Mike, I told him that I was shopping for an inspector. I really wasn’t too sure what questions to ask and he helped me out on what I should ask during my interviews. After calling 7 other inspectors from the Seattle/​Kent area, I knew Mike was going to be the inspector to hire. Mike is legit, and when it comes to an investment such as the purchase of my first home, I highly recommend that you go with MV Home Inspections.
Other things I want you to know about Mike. It would appear he is highly involved with his community. He was very flexible about scheduling a time to conduct an inspection. He opened his schedule to fit me in during the days he dedicates to his community. Conducting these inspections is not his main employment, he’s not trying to put his children through college with this gig so he’s not trying to pump inspections out. One a day, and that’s it. If the property is outside his work range and you have to pay the additional $ 25 to recoup mileage driven, do it. He’s worth it.

I was hesitant to go with my agent’s home inspector for $ 350 because I was buying a condo not a big house that needed a whole lot of inspecting… so I did research on my own before deciding who to go with.
Unilocal occasionally has enough reviews for non-​restaurant services that help me make a solid decision on who/​what to pick and they did it again this time! I was pleasantly surprised by all the different home inspector reviews on Unilocal,and definitely looked for the high star ratings and location factor.
I saw that Mike lived in Phinney Ridge and my condo will be in Greenwood so I figured he would know the area well. After reading the other reviews, I knew that was what most people went with anyway.
Mike’s website is also very detailed and comprehensive and the best part was that his prices were SO affordable and definitely stood out from the typical $ 300-​$ 400 price range. That was the most exciting part to be honest, because buying a home is not cheap and anywhere I can save some money is a breath of fresh air.
I went with the focused condo report for $ 195. On the phone, Mike walked me through his reports and told me that the full report wasn’t very necessary for what I was getting so I trusted him. He definitely knew his stuff and explained how he got into the profession after retiring and realizing he still wanted to do something on the side. He was very helpful and fit me into a weekend appointment which was something he rarely did. I was on a tight timeline so I really appreciated his flexibility and willingness to help me out.
Throughout the whole process, Mike was extremely forward about his services and provided really thoughtful recommendations in his report and even advised me to check out the local neighborhood home improvement stores nearby after I move in.
Highly recommended — very professional, thorough and affordable!!!

Mike is very knowledgeable of older homes in particular. I was very impressed with everything from his attention to detail up to his grasp of the big picture. Other than that, every five star review on him here is dead on accurate. He’s a good man, and thorough.

This is actually the first time I’ve posted on Unilocal.I usually go to Unilocal just to read other peoples’ comments. I had to do this because I felt strongly that Mike is a great person to hire for an inspection. When doing research on a home inspector, I was specifically looking for cases where the inspector found things wrong. I don’t want to hear about how quick they were, or friendly, or how the inspector helped them to find the perfect home. In my case, he found many small things wrong, which, along with a failed sewer scope, convinced me not to buy the house. He was able to answer all of my questions, and his report was very thorough and easy to understand. I would definitely use him again. Thanks Mike! That’s the easiest half a mil that I ever saved.

I have never worked with anyone who is more professional than Mike. He’s saved our necks a couple of times now and I recommend him without reservations to anyone who really wants to make sure your future financial commitment is solid — before you sign any other papers. You may be surprised to hear how much time it takes to inspect a property, but believe him when he tells you, he knows what he’s talking about and he works harder than anyone I’ve seen. He is not only meticulous about the inspection process, but also goes above and beyond the expectations, not shying away from talking to HOA, agents, and anyone else who may come out questioning his results. A truly great find.

I called Mike after reading his Unilocal reviews, and I was not disappointed! He was very thorough, explained everything to my husband and I as he went, even made some minor repairs himself as we walked through the house. His reports are easy to read and very organized and I love the option he gives in regards to the report. Mike is very honest and personable and we will definitely be using him for all future home inspections!

Mike was recommended by my real estate agent, and I couldn’t have been happier with him. He always responded to my calls/​emails promptly, and really took his time to do a careful inspection. Since the inspection I’ve had a couple questions about our new house, and he’s been great about those, too.

Mike did two home inspections for me (I did not end up purchasing the first home because of a major flaw discovered by the inspection) and both times I have been impressed by his thoroughness and knowledge. Having the inspection on rainy days helped reveal problems too :-).
Mike arrived early so he would have plenty of time to examine the whole house, beginning by scouting out the exterior until my agent arrived. He gave me a brief summary of his findings when I showed up and walked me around the house to explain what was wrong and potential solutions. Although he would sometimes be humorously grumpy over the perhaps naïve questions I asked, I felt comfortable asking him anything about the house, confident that he would give me an honest answer. He told me he would be my «home inspector for life» and that if I had any questions about the house or the inspection or what to do about something he discovered, I shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him.
His approach was systematic and thorough, beginning with the exterior bottom up and then the interior – all the electrical, water, heating systems, testing all the appliances and noting any other issues, etc and ending in the crawlspace. As we went around, he would narrate to me what he was seeing, what the issues were and what could be done about them. Everything was coherent and intuitive and because he was explaining not merely his observations, but their significance to me as a future homeowner, I felt like it was invaluable preparation and four hours well-​spent.
I received a good written report the next day highlighting major concerns and explaining all of the findings we verbally discussed. I would readily recommend Mike to any friend.

I hired Mike from MV Home Inspection after calling around and speaking with several different inspectors in northwest Seattle. Mike is tightly integrated into the Ballard/​Phinney/​Greenwood area, so I knew he would be very familiar with the types and ages of homes found here. It was clear after speaking with him on the phone that he was the right inspector for me — it seemed as if he knew the house better than I did without even seeing it.
We schedule a 4 hour inspection early the following week. Mike arrived early, and had everything prepared for me before I arrived.
Once we got started I was very impressed with his attention to detail in all aspects of the inspection process. We walked the grounds together and discussed every item he noticed, as he noticed it. Mike was always happy to engage in conversation about the items he found, and was never annoyed by my incessant questions.
At the end of the process he delivered a highly detailed, easy to read and understand report to me including photos and diagrams, with all of the key points highlighted. There were a couple of small, inconsequential things he noticed that he wasn’t completely sure of, so he took the time to reach out to a network of inspectors he works with and came back to me with 3 pages of information he collected from 10+ other inspectors to make sure I had the best answer possible.
Mike only does one inspection a day (it’s a personal rule of his), so he was able to dedicate as much time as needed to my inspection, and was able to turn around the full report to me *the same day*. As we were trying to get the deal finished quickly, this was hugely valuable to us.
All of this, and he was still cheaper than any of the other inspectors I spoke with. I can’t recommend him highly enough!